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Some signs that maybe this Trump administration won't just be more of the same...
So apparently the US government will "shut down" on Friday if Congress doesn't pass a continuing resolution. (I put "shut down" in quotes because of course they will still continue the all-important business of sending out transfer payments and paying bureaucrats. Mostly they'll just close the National Parks.).
To keep the government running, the House Speaker (Mike Johnson, Republican) put forward a 1500 page continuing resolution that had all kinds of ridiculous shit in it, including funding pro-regime propaganda, changing the word "offender" to "justice-involved person", and of course a bunch of pork barrel projects for both parties.
A 1500 page bill right before Christmas is all very normal of course. No one expects the Congresspeople to read it. They just rubber stamp and then go home to their constituents bragging about their $100 million in funding for music tourism or whatever.
Only, this time, something happened. Spurred on by Elon and Vivek, constituents started calling their representatives and complaining. The bill looks to be in trouble. And now, reportedly, it is being replaced by a bill that's "only" 116 pages. At this point, our resident nitpickers will come in and mention that most of the important stuff in the bill is still there. The money for molasses research is just a small drop in the bucket compared to the money for hurricane relief. And they're right. But still, this is important progress. A government for the people and by the people needs to legible to the people.
Bills should be only as long as they need to be and no longer. This bill should have been a single page, continuing existing funding levels. 116 pages is still 115 pages too long, but it's progress.
It's a good sign that the swamp is less powerful than before.
p.s. Grok AI is very useful for getting information on current events.
I don't get the sense that, as someone thoroughly impressed by a change in page count, you'll care, but in the interest of facts...
Most bureaucrats do not get paid during shutdowns.
Not that you should shed a tear for then; current law requires that they receive backpay for the shutdown.
So with that correction, please feel free to continue cheering for giving delayed-pay vacations to the bureaucrats.
Yeah Contractors get hosed, unless their company has enough private contracts, employees get a delayed pay vacation.
I did have a dark thought this could be some sort of 4d chess play.
Back in 2022, Elon cleared the way for his purchase of Twitter by trying to get out of it. It was a brilliant move. Everyone who was against him before said "no, no, you HAVE to buy it". Incredibly, progressives celebrated when they "won" and forced him to buy it. Two years later, Trump won the popular vote and DEI programs are being canceled all across America.
There's a chance that the shutdown is actually the intended point. If he were smart, Jeffries would get the Dems to go along with the new 116 page bill. The bill is fine. But instead, he is apparently fighting it. Now HE owns the shutdown. When Trump takes charge, there's a chance they'll just tell the furloughed workers, "you know what, stay home, you're fired". They are, after all, self-identifying as non-essential. Too bad the Democrats couldn't sign the continuing resolution..
Epistemic status: Extremely speculative.
No, the media decides who owns the shutdown. So when the National Christmas Tree goes dark, the Republicans will be to blame.
Who cares? New CEO. You start saying “the estimates are too rich we are going to lower.” Rio the band aide off at the start. As a result you start off with only upside.
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